Morgue Workers Arrested for Stealing Dead Man’s Eyeballs

Four men were arrested in China after stealing a dead patient’s eyeballs from a hospital mortuary as part of an organ-trading ring. The man died of organ failure Tuesday at Ningxiang People’s Hospital in Hunan province, Yahoo News reported. “A cotton ball was put in the left eye, while a surgical tool used to expand the eye socket was in the right. His eyeballs were taken away,” his sister wrote on WeChat.

The mortuary employees were arrested for theft and defiling a corpse. Three of them had fled to Shaoyang, about 150 miles from Ningxiang, after removing the eyes, police said. “Initial investigations showed that it’s possible that they colluded to sell organs,” a police source said.